Do Australians generally measure these things by the week or fortnight? The article was using fortnights, and I've seen Australians in this thread use weeks several times, but I'm accustomed to thinking of expenses in monthly increments.

Generally we measure by week in terms of paying rent/home payment/expenses (which is always our biggest expense), houses are advertised to rent by their weekly rent regardless of when rent is actually paid, house payments are discussed similarly. Government support (and most paychecks in general) are paid fortnightly, which is why it references fortnights in the article. Most other bills are quarterly, which we tend to break down into a per week amount when we think about them, force of habit I guess, certainly when I was taught to budget I was taught to think of things in terms of weekly.

That's almost exactly half of how much I make now, and I'm barely surviving lol. That equates to about $589 US (single) per month; my rent is $475, my electric bill is about $65. On top of other miscellaneous expenses, that would basically mean I'd have to survive on ramen lol.

Originally Posted by Warwithin

Politicians put their hand on the BIBLE and swore to uphold the CONSTITUTION. They did not put their hand on the CONSTITUTION and swear to uphold the BIBLE.

Originally Posted by Adam Jensen

Except maybe Morgan Freeman. That man could convince God to be an atheist with that voice of his . . .

Many of these values were fractions, so I rounded up, which means I can use the difference for laundry lol.

1. I'm Australian and depending on what city you live in you'd be damn lucky to find a place as "cheap" as $500 a month! In one of our major cities Sydney rental prices are between $250 and $500 A WEEK!!!!!! and that's not CBD, it's one of the more uh... rough areas where alot of the um... not so nice people tend to live... if you wanted to live in Sydney City itself you're looking at between $600 and $2500 a week (HOLY HELL! I have never had such a high paying job that I could afford a property that cost $2500 a week to rent :S :S :S)

2. Job within walking distance.... most people can't afford to be that choosy. Not every suburb has big businesses just down the street and I know for a fact that the shops that are in my suburb are all very small and i've NEVER seen them hiring. I've been here for 10 years and those last 10 years it's always been the same people working there and whenever i ask if there is a vacancy the answer is always the same. No.
3. I can't really comment on this one as that's not a bill I have to look at
4. Gas? I assume that's petrol? I have a small car. I only ever feed it $20. That's a fortnight of driving around depending on how much I drive it. Unless I left my car at home and caught the bus there is no way $20 would ever last in my car a month and my car mostly sits in the carport. Even public transport is more expensive than that. The busses here $4 will get you to your destination and it will cost another $4 to get home.
5. Internet is a necessity, payTV people can live without. I think $100 a month is a bit generous... then again I have a free pay TV offer at the moment and once that expires that goes to $110 a month (ouch!)
6. In Australia $28 a week for groceries? AHAHAHAHHA Yeah right, not around here. With your $4 a day I could get a loaf of bread and 2L of milk. What an awesome diet... or maybe just eat a uni student diet and live off noodles...
7. Who the heck needs to buy new clothes monthly?? I certainly don't I'd rather put this into the 8th
8. $2 a day in spending... in Australia that don't buy much. Not even a 600ml bottle of coke...
9. on unemployment benefits it's very hard to save any money.

Basically $35 a day for a family is completely unreasonable. While I understand there is this whole go get work push... that's easier said than done. I've been looking for work for ages now. There is nothing wrong with me at all but the city I live in has one of the highest unemployment rates and no matter how hard I try and how keen I am I always seem to be unsuccessful and when I ask why it's always the same answer "We picked someone with at least 2 years past experience" Alot of single mothers and women who had children at young ages will have this exact same barrier i do. If it were easy to get a job don't you think more people would be working?? not everyone is unemployed and living off benefits by choice

1. I'm Australian and depending on what city you live in you'd be damn lucky to find a place as "cheap" as $500 a month! In one of our major cities Sydney rental prices are between $250 and $500 A WEEK!!!!!! and that's not CBD, it's one of the more uh... rough areas where alot of the um... not so nice people tend to live... if you wanted to live in Sydney City itself you're looking at between $600 and $2500 a week (HOLY HELL! I have never had such a high paying job that I could afford a property that cost $2500 a week to rent :S :S :S)

2. Job within walking distance.... most people can't afford to be that choosy. Not every suburb has big businesses just down the street and I know for a fact that the shops that are in my suburb are all very small and i've NEVER seen them hiring. I've been here for 10 years and those last 10 years it's always been the same people working there and whenever i ask if there is a vacancy the answer is always the same. No.
3. I can't really comment on this one as that's not a bill I have to look at
4. Gas? I assume that's petrol? I have a small car. I only ever feed it $20. That's a fortnight of driving around depending on how much I drive it. Unless I left my car at home and caught the bus there is no way $20 would ever last in my car a month and my car mostly sits in the carport. Even public transport is more expensive than that. The busses here $4 will get you to your destination and it will cost another $4 to get home.
5. Internet is a necessity, payTV people can live without. I think $100 a month is a bit generous... then again I have a free pay TV offer at the moment and once that expires that goes to $110 a month (ouch!)
6. In Australia $28 a week for groceries? AHAHAHAHHA Yeah right, not around here. With your $4 a day I could get a loaf of bread and 2L of milk. What an awesome diet... or maybe just eat a uni student diet and live off noodles...
7. Who the heck needs to buy new clothes monthly?? I certainly don't I'd rather put this into the 8th
8. $2 a day in spending... in Australia that don't buy much. Not even a 600ml bottle of coke...
9. on unemployment benefits it's very hard to save any money.

1. If you opt to live in a particularly nasty area of downtown Chicago for example (the area I live in), you can find a place for that cheap.
2. Yeah I know this is a stretch, but in the city transportation isn't too much of a problem if you can't walk to your destination.
4. I should've clarified that gas is "natural gas," like the stuff that you use in a water heater or stove.
5. That $100 will cover a nice package that includes cable TV, internet, and phone (phone is necessary since I wouldn't have a cell phone >.<)
6. You don't consume a gallon of milk and a loaf of bread in one day, do you? A loaf of bread has 10 servings, which can last you call week. 3 servings of milk a day, assuming you're the only one drinking it, lasts about 5 days. You can buy fruits and veggies and meats with the rest of the money.
7. The clothing bill is a fund that you put money into. Whenever you feel the need to buy new clothes, you can dip into it and have enough for some decent threads.
8. If you're poorer than poor, you can't afford many luxuries or pleasures like Coke.
9. You need SOME sort of savings to back you up in case of an emergency, and also some amount of money that maybe will one day help you improve your situation.

I don't live in Australia though, so apparently living expenses and employment conditions are much different there.
No matter where you are, $35/day isn't going to cut it. I'm just speculating on a feasible plan that MIGHT allow you to survive on so little.

Basically $35 a day for a family is completely unreasonable. While I understand there is this whole go get work push... that's easier said than done. I've been looking for work for ages now. There is nothing wrong with me at all but the city I live in has one of the highest unemployment rates and no matter how hard I try and how keen I am I always seem to be unsuccessful and when I ask why it's always the same answer "We picked someone with at least 2 years past experience" Alot of single mothers and women who had children at young ages will have this exact same barrier i do. If it were easy to get a job don't you think more people would be working?? not everyone is unemployed and living off benefits by choice

Yeah I am not nearly thrifty enough to support a family on $35 a day.

Originally Posted by dodonpachi

This is a little devoid of reality.

And your post is a little devoid of discussion-worthy material. Would you like to expand on your statement?

There is no way $4 a day would feed you in Australia unless you food consumption consisted of instant noodles for breakfast lunch and dinner.

And energy prices in Australia have risen 60% over the last 6 years. That $90 estimate is more like $160.

That might be true. It's definitely not ideal if you are seriously THAT poor, but if you were down to the wire I think it could be done.
Or you can go without cable TV/internet. I only included that expense because a person needs some means of escape from reality so they don't kill themselves out of misery.

Again, I don't know anything about living conditions in Australia other than what I've learned just now. I thought the OP was about making a game of trying to live off of $35/day lol.

That might be true. It's definitely not ideal if you are seriously THAT poor, but if you were down to the wire I think it could be done.
Or you can go without cable TV/internet. I only included that expense because a person needs some means of escape from reality so they don't kill themselves out of misery.

Again, I don't know anything about living conditions in Australia other than what I've learned just now. I thought the OP was about making a game of trying to live off of $35/day lol.

lol its cool. I am falling asleep at the desc and been in this raid for 8 hours. I just want to sleep >.<

Many of these values were fractions, so I rounded up, which means I can use the difference for laundry lol.
EDIT: No cell phone I guess... it's a luxury however you slice it.

kinda depends on where you are, most of that isn't even feasible.

1) most states in the US, you won't be able to find that
3) no chance in hell the way electrical bills are going up, maybe in Cali where you don't need electricity for heat, but then you won't be able to find an apartment for under $500 either
4) Gas for less than $20 a month? really? Hell, I'm within walking distance to work and I still go through a tank month and that's $60
5) This is where's it'd doable. Don't need cable. I'd say internet for most is a must, so you could cut that in half, or find a coffee shop with free wifi.

in terms of 2) if you get a job, that defeats the purpose of the welfare point of OP's post. Thus you won't need the $35 a day, you'll have a job.

Depends on the country, in my country with 14.5 eu a day as a student it's not only is it not a problem, but you'd be very comfortable. 30x14.5=435, if u live with 2 roommates u need 60-80 eu for rent and another 50-60 for gas, power etc which leaves you with another 300 eu. While i was studying i had 200 eu a month for food and spending and i was ok.

1) most states in the US, you won't be able to find that
3) no chance in hell the way electrical bills are going up, maybe in Cali where you don't need electricity for heat, but then you won't be able to find an apartment for under $500 either
4) Gas for less than $20 a month? really? Hell, I'm within walking distance to work and I still go through a tank month and that's $60
5) This is where's it'd doable. Don't need cable. I'd say internet for most is a must, so you could cut that in half, or find a coffee shop with free wifi.

in terms of 2) if you get a job, that defeats the purpose of the welfare point of OP's post. Thus you won't need the $35 a day, you'll have a job.

I live in an apartment with three other people and our total electric bill has never gone above $40 a month.
I meant natural gas for $20/month, should probably edit that old post. If you have a budget of $35/day, cars are absolutely a luxury that you cannot afford.

Anyways, I was just having fun trying to see if I can make a living for myself out of $35/month.

It shouldn't be hard, you just have to be creative. For example high livings costs, rent food etc can be tackled by moving in with other people who can share these expenses. Fictional scenario: single room apartment A costs 400$ a month, has room to fit one or at absolute maximum two people (say, a couple). Multiroom apartment/house B would have a rent of 1000$ a month, but it could easily fit 4 people so that they each have their own room as well as shared kitchen, bathroom and perhaps even a living room. Living conditions would be much, much nicer compared to the single room apartment A, on top of being almost 50% cheaper when it comes to rent! 1000$ divided by 4 is 250$ for each occupant.

Cooking larger amounts of food for multiple people tends to be more economical than cooking for a single person, that's another way of saving money or alternatively a way of actually eating healthy food in a tough financial situation.

This is basically how I lived for a year, during that year I had more living space than I've ever had before, had considerably lower income than normally but also didn't have to put as much money aside for mere survival thus I ended up with 'extra' money at the end of each month I normally didn't have, despite living in a lower than normal income situation.

Yes. In my previous job I earned ~$500/month, so that's ~$17 a day. I co-rented apartment with some other people back then, had to pay for rent and rest of the payments were split; later on boyfriend bought apartment, so no rent now - electricity and heating in winter are the biggest payments, Internet here is cheap. I also should note that I don't have a car, so I don't have to spend money on gas/repairs/whatever. I rarely eat in restaurants or order take-out, mostly cook everything myself, so I don't spend that much on food - fresh produce here isn't expensive, meat has okay price, too.

Also, with that wage I still had money left over to buy some things I wanted. So yeah, $35/day is okay.

I always get nostalgic feels from listening to the elywnn music. I could hear the crickets and the moon was out, just running through elwynn down to goldshire. So beautiful. I was checking out the tavern, loved the music. Then a night elf asked me to suck his cock for 15s.

I should've done this to begin with but I'll put some perspective in because this is an expensive country to live. Basics like bread and milk will set you back $5+, a really low level rental place is $110. A one hour (return train trip) is $10. Petrol is around $1.40L (0.26gallon). I can't be bothered to find my utilitiy rate.

I actually lived on less then $35 a day, but I was a single student in a shared apartment and in the year I lost about 15kg because my food was noodles, noodles, noodles, bread and vegamite and i'd spoil myself with yogurt. I'd have around $10 left over as it's paid fortnightly. I was lucky because my mum was paying for my mobile and the rent included enough internet data.

I couldn't find work then, god damn did I try. So imagine now having a child in this situation, yes I know you shouldn't get pregnant if you can't afford it but it happens.

I bolded the part that I feel is relevant. Welfare was designed to give people a helping hand when they fell on hard-times, not a lifestyle that it has currently become. Having more children, that you can not afford, while on welfare should not be rewarded. Call me cold hearted, but you just need to take a look in a lot of the section 8 houses and public housing developments to see what rewarding irresponsible behavior can net you.

I'm not counting people receiving a disability payment, but the way that system is being abused now, it should be looked into more.

As for living on what they are paying? Yeah, I could do it but it would hurt like hell.